The present disclosure relates to an embroidery sewing system. More specifically, it relates to an embroidery sewing system including a sewing apparatus that can perform embroidery sewing and an embroidery data processing apparatus that can generate and process embroidery data to be used by the sewing apparatus in embroidery sewing.
A conventional sewing machine is capable of sewing an embroidery pattern including a character, a symbol, a design, etc. on a work cloth as a sewing target. To sew an embroidery pattern by the conventional sewing machine, it is necessary to generate embroidery data to be used for embroidery sewing by the sewing machine. In such a case, the embroidery data can be generated by an embroidery data generation apparatus that is built in or that is provided separate from the sewing machine. When the embroidery data is generated, a user first selects an embroidery pattern to be sewn, and edits the selected pattern into a desired adjusted pattern by, for example, appropriately flipping the pattern, changing its size and color, and moving its position. The user can also set an appropriate sewing speed and tension of the upper thread for the sewing machine. After the embroidery pattern is selected and embroidery conditions are set by the user in such a manner, the embroidery data is automatically generated by the embroidery data generation apparatus.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is commonly known, and involves an IC chip equipped with an antenna is employed. The IC chip with the antenna may be referred to as an “RFID tag”, and shaped like a tag, a label, or the like. The RFID tag may be added to a variety of products so that information stored in the RFID tag may be read out from the RFID tag or information may be written into the RFID tag, with an apparatus referred to as an “RFID reader/writer”. The RFID technology is utilized in various fields in order to identify or control individuals' actions. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2005-160936 discloses an RFID tag that is attached to a work cloth as a sewing target and that stores information to identify the type of work cloth. It is also disclosed that a control device of an eyelet buttonholing sewing machine determines whether a pressing pressure and a tension set for the sewing machine are suitable for the type of the work cloth indicated by the identification information of the work cloth read out by an RFID reader/writer of the sewing machine.
In the aforementioned technology, the RFID tag attached to the work cloth stores the identification information concerning only the type of work cloth. Therefore, although the type of the work cloth can be identified and corresponding setting of certain conditions can be automatically carried out, the user still needs to set other detailed conditions on a case-by-case basis. As described above, in the case of sewing an embroidery pattern, in order to obtain a desired embroidery result, the user may need to make various edits to the embroidery pattern and set various embroidery conditions in a process of generating embroidery data. Therefore, if the user is not familiar with a sewing machine, problems may occur because these jobs are troublesome and time-consuming.